Pa. Attorney General Closes State's 'Florida Loophole' for Gun Permits
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane, who took office less than a month ago, was in North Philadelphia today to make a major gun safety announcement.
If you are among the 4,000 Pennsylvania residents who has a Florida-issued "concealed carry" weapon permit, you have four months to get one from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or you will be in violation of the law.
Kane has signed an amended reciprocal agreement with the State of Florida, ending the so-called "Florida loophole" in Pennsylvania's gun laws.
"The Florida loophole allows Pennsylvania residents to mail a certificate and a check to Florida without any proof of residency," she explains, "and they are issued a concealed-carry permit from the State of Florida that, for 11 years since 2001, has been recognized in this commonwealth as a valid permit."
At the Cecil B. Moore Recreation Center, near 22nd Street and Lehigh Avenue, Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey applauded the move to tighten Pennsylvania's gun laws and said it may help reduce gun violence in Philadelphia.
"This is a strong step, but it's not the only step," Ramsey said. "A lot more has to be done at the state level, and a lot more has to be done on a federal level. But enough is enough," he said of the city's ongoing problem with gun violence.
